Ignition apparatus.



E. D. ALLENSWORTH.

IGNITION APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED Auchso. ssns.

1,213,789. Y Patented Jan. 23,1917.

PATENT I orrios.

ELLIS n. annnnswon'rs,

F WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS.

IGNITION. nrrann'rus.

Specification of Letters Iate'nt.

Patented Jan. 23, 1am;

Application filed August so, 1915. Serial No. 48,105.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLIS D. Animuswon'rn, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Waukegan, in the county of Lake and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in IgnitionApparatus,. of which the following is a specification.

' Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken "on line 3-3-of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 isa transverse section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In all the views the same reference characters are employed to indicatesimilar parts;

The major portion of the device is the housing, or casing 5, having anaxially concentric integral-sleeve 6 and a laterally projecting arm7,.the latter having a flat taxtension or prolonged plate part 8. The

sleeve 6 contains another detached, separable sleeve 9 upon which thecasing is freely rotatable and which is provided with an annular flange10 to afford a, shoulder 11 upon which the'casing rests. The fiail'ge'lOis provided with a set screw 12- loy which the device as a whole, maybesupported on a shaft, such as indicated at 13 by dotted lines. To holdthe sleeve 9 within the sleeve 6 I secure, on the top of the former, ablock 13 by means of inclined screws 14. Projecting upwardly from theblock 13, and concentric with the bore of the sleeve 9, is a stud 15,threaded as at 16 toreceive the timer-cam 17 which is also. threaded andwhich engages the threaded portion 16 of the stud 15. The check nut 18is preferably downwardly curved, and preferably made of spring materialsuch as steel and has threaded engagement with the threaded serves tohold the timer-cam 17 in place upon the stud. A cotter pin 19 passesthrough the stud15 and prevents the check nut 18 from backing oil of thethreaded per" tlon of the stud. The upper end of the stud 15 carries ablock of insulating material 20 having an axially positioned, sleeve 21adapted to fit the upper end of the stud 15 and another sleeve 22,practically at right angles thereto, screw threaded for a set screw 23,whereby to hold the insulation block 20 firmly in place upon the upperend of. the stud. The block 20 is preferably counter-bored, as at 24, inthe floor of which counter-bore is located a secondary conductor 25,which projects laterally and upwardly from one side of the block, as at26, for electrical association with the terminal screws 27-27. A cap orcover 28, preferably of insulating material, is secured to the .casing'5, as by screws 29-29 and carries th s terminal screws 2727. It alsocarries an axially located central terminal screw 30 which formsaterminal for one side of the high otential distributing; circuits. lowerend of the terminal 30, to wit, the end 31, is counter-bored. as at 32,to receive a, carbon plug 33, which is held yieldingly upon the uppersurface of the conductor 25 y means of a coiled open spring 34,'therebyto complete electric continuity between as terminal 30 and the conductor26.

A laterally reciprocable hollow shaft 35 is contained in a radial borein the arm 7 and'carries a pin 36 that slides freely in a slot 37 ofsaid bore, thereby to prevent the shaft 35 from rotating but permittingits easy reciprocation. The shaft 35 is en- The larged intoa head, atits inner end, as at 38, to provide a shoulder 39 for the open helicalspring 40, the other end of which bears against a shoulder 41 providedon the casing, thereby to cause the shaft 35 to he held yieldingly inits inwardly extended position. The head 38 of the shaft 35 contains aroller 39, which is freely rotatable upon a. pin 40 movable in the slot41, in said head. The inner end of the bore of the shaft 35 is screwthreaded, the outer end of which, however, is smooth and is of somewhatsmaller diameter to contain an independently reciprocatable pin 42. Thispin is reduced at its outer end, as at 43, and

portion 16 ofthe stud 15 above the. cam and Y carries a contact point ofsuitable characteraction.

ing screw is tightened 44, the reduced end projecting through aperforation in the end of the shaft 35, which will not permit the largerportion 42, of the pin to pass through on account of the shoulderexisting between the parts 42 and 43. A spring 46, yieldingly holds theshoulder, provided by the'larger portion 42, against the shoulder in theend of the shaft 35 and y is adjustable in effect by the stud screw 47.The spring 40 serves to hold the roller 39 in neat contact with thetimer-cam 16 and the spring 46 serves to hold the shoulder, provided bythe larger portion 42 of the pin, in yielding contact with the'shoulderprovided by the hollow shaft 35.

A relatively stationary contact 50 is provided on the reduced end 52 ofthe adjustable fixed screw 53. The contact 50 coiipcrates with thecontact 44 provided on the outer end of the pin 42.- The adjustablescrew 53 is held in adjusted position by means of a clamping screwthreaded part 55 having a threaded shank extension 56 for a wire bindingnut 57, provided for com-- pleting the primary circuit of the sparkproducing system. The part 55 is slotted or divided, and is providedwith two projecting ears 54 and 55. Through these ears pass a clampingscrew 56. There is a clearance hole in the part 55 to permit theclamping After the adjusting screw 53 has been moved to selectedposition. the clampso as to draw the ears 54 and 55 in closer contactthereby to clamp and hold-the shank of the adjusting screw in theposition in which it has been placed by said adjustment. The art 55isinsulated on the flat portion 8 of t e casing, by means of insulatingplates or washers 58, 59 and 60. Another plate of insulating ma terial61 is threaded and passes over the inner end of the adjusting screw 53and is held in place thereonl as .the result of its fiat under-portionwhich contacts with the upper portion of the plate 8.

A spark-gap .cover 62, consisting of apiece of spring sheet metal suchas steel or bronze is hinged, as at 63, to the plate 8 and is providedwith a curved latch end 64, which snaps into-the groove provided on theplate 8 when the cover is in position. The outer edge of the cover restson the plate of insulating material 61 and prevents short-circuitingofthe primary circuit by contact with the part 55. This cover closes thespark gap'space within which the primary circuit is broken by thecontacts'44 and 50 but renders the contacts readily accessible forobservation or adjustment by simply moving the clip 64 and lifting thepart 62 of the cover.

When the parts fixed to the sleeve 9 are rotated the radiallypositioned-shaft 35 is moved outwardly by the timing cam 17 until.

the contact 44 is in connection with the sary to remove be readily takenrelatively stationary contact 50 after which any further outward axialmovement of the shaft 35 is taken up by the "spring 46, in the relativemovement of the shaft 35 and the pin 42. By this means making a firm,positive connection between the two contacts of the primary circuit forrelatively a protracted period of time, and producing" a hammer breakaction when the circuit is broken, thereby causing a large and veryefiective spark to be produced within the combustion chamber of theengine.

To disassemble the parts it is only necesthe cover 28 after which thescrews 1414 may be taken out and the movable parts may all be readily.andquickly separated. the head 28 of the shaft 35','as a result of theslot 41, after which the pin 35' may be removed from its bore and theshaft 42 may from its position by taking out thestud screw 47, and thespring 46.

The roller 39 will readily leave From the construction above describedit ig evident thatthe parts arereadily accessible for oiling andadjustment or disassembling tosubstitute new parts. a

I have shown only one cable terminal 65, though it is of course evidentthat each of the terminal screws plied with a similar terminal. i

The extended end of the plate ,8 is bored,

27 and 30 isto be supv as at 66, by means of which connection can I bemade to the casing for the purpose of oscillating it to change thecyclic spark time relation of the device with the piston of the engine,as usual in devices of this character.

It is also manifest that by changing the number of terminals 27 andcorrespondingly changing the cam 17 the device may thus be adapted foran engine of any desired num-' ber of cylinders. I

While I have herein shown a single embodiment of my invention for thepurpose of cleardisclosure, it will be manifest that many changes may bemade in the general form, arrangement and configuration of the parts,within the scope of the appended claims.

Havingdescribed my invention, what I claim is 1. A device of thecharacter described comprising a casing having a laterallyprojecting'part provided with a radial bore; a hollow shaft axiallymovable within said bore; a roller carried by the inner end of saidshaft; a timer-cam rotatable on an axis at substantial right angles tosaid hollow shaft and in a horizontal plane with said roller; aspringtoyieldingly hold said roller in contact with said cam; a contact pin,

within the hollow shaft, having a contact- 7 of; a spring within thehollow shaft to yieldingly hold the ggntact ppinninfiits extendedposition; a stop for said. contact pin bearing end projecting from theend therev bore; a relatively and a relatively stationary contact forcooperation with the said movable contact.

2. A device of the character described comprising a casing, having alaterally projecting part provided with a radial bore and a plateextension; a hollow shaft, axially movable within said bore; a removableroller carried in a slot of said shaft; a timer-cam rotatable on an axisat substantialright angles to said hollow shaft, in a horizontal planewith said shaft, to yicidingly hold sai roller in contact with said cam;an axially movable contact pin, Within the hollow shaft, having acontact-bearing end projecting from the end of said hollow shaft; aspring within the hollow shaft to yieldingly hold the contact pin in itsextended osition; a stop for said contact pin; a relatively stationary,adjustable contact for cooperation with the movable contact, insnlatedlysupported on said plate extension and a cover for the sparkgap spacebetween said contacts.

3. A device of the character described comprising a casing having alaterally projecting part provided with a radial bore; an axiailymovable contact member within said stationary, adjustable consolleryesoring surrounding said hollow tact member Without the bore; 'arotatable 'part on which the casing and both contacts are rotatablysupported; a distributor cam carrotatable independently of ried by apart provided in the inner end i said casing, and a commutator memberfor the high potential circuit carried by said rotatable support.

4. In an ignition timer the combination with a cam reciprocated memberhaving an opening therein, of a contact member extending Within theopening, a spring to resiliently hold the contact member in its eX-tended position, a stop to limit the outward movement of the contactmember, and a relatively stationary cooperating contact member;

5. A device of the character described comprising a casing having alaterally projecting part provided with a radial bore; a hollow shaftaxially movable within said bore; a timer cam; a spring to yieldinglyhold the inner end ofsaid shaft in contact with said cam; a contact pin,within the 1101- low shaft having a contact bearing end projecting fromthe end thereof; a spring within the hollow shaft to yieldingly hold thecontact pin in its extended position; 'a stop for said contact pin; anda relatively stationary contact for cooperation with the said movablecontact.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing wit.-

nesses.

ELLIS D. ,ALLENSWGRTH. In the presence of- Gno. F. PALDANI, BESSIEALLENSWORTH.

